No. 28 BYU Wins MWC Women's Tennis Title, Gets 2007 NCAA Automatic Bid

Colorado Springs, Colo. (April 28, 2007) The 28th-ranked BYU women's tennis team clinched their third Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championship in four years with a 4-1 victory over UNLV, Saturday at the Air Force Academy.

The win improved the Cougars record to 21-6 on the year and earned the MWC's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Tournament that begins on May 12. BYU has now won four conference tournament titles in the eight-year history of the MWC.

"We really were focused today, had good energy and kept our emotions where they needed to be," said Craig Manning, BYU head coach and MWC Coach of the Year. "They refused to give them (UNLV) an inch. We relied on our clutch players Anastasia, Lauren and Sofia all week long, and the rest of the girls played exceptionally good and had lots of positive energy. They could have all won their matches today."

BYU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead by winning two of the three doubles matches. The Cougars' No. 3 team of Kristina Doerr and Sofia Holden finished the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record after defeating Claire Smith and Alisa Razina, 8-2. BYU's No. 1 team of Jenny Miccoli and Anastasia Surkova, ranked 48th in the country, clinched the point with an 8-3 win over the nation's 20th-ranked team of Elena Gantcheva and Kristina Nedeltcheva.

The 2007 MWC Co-Players of the Year, Anastasia Surkova put the Cougars up 2-0 by downing Elena Gantcheva, 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 1 position. Surkova, who is ranked 89th in the country in singles, improved to 31-7 overall this season.

Sofia Holden improved her singles record to 20-13 and gave BYU a commanding 3-0 lead with a straight sets 6-4, 6-1 victory over Alisa Razina at the no. five singles spot. Senior Lauren Jones once again pulled out a three-set victory, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, over Kristina Nedeltcheva to clinch the match for the Cougars.

BYU-4, UNLV- 0

Finals of the 2007 MWC Women's Tennis Championships

Doubles:

1. Surkova/Jenny Miccoli (BYU) def. Gantcheva/Nedeltcheva, 8-3

2. Dimitrova/Tempelfelde (UNLV) vs. Jones/Chang, 6-4 (DNF)

3. Doerr/Holden (BYU) def. Razina/Smith, 8-2

BYU: 1-0 after winning doubles point.

Singles:

1. Anastasia Surkova (BYU) def. Elena Gantcheva, 6-3, 6-2

2. Lauren Jones (BYU) def. Kristina Nedeltcheva, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2*

3. Kristina Doerr (BYU) vs. Nikol Dimitrova, 6-7(4), 6-4, 1-0 (DNF)

4. Chie Hayasaka (BYU) vs. Linda Tempelfelde, 6-2, 6-7(4), 3-2 (DNF)

5. Sofia Holden (BYU) def. Alisa Razina, 6-4, 6-1

6. Claire Smith (UNLV) vs. Dolly Chang, 4-6, 6-1, 4-3 (DNF)

* Mat clinched the Cougar win.